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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

  1. It's not a deep ________________. It's just a scratch.
  2. It seems a cruel thing to ________________ a bird's wings.
  3. I would like to have a ________________ here.
  4. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.
  5. We've had a long dry ________________ this summer.
  6. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  7. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  8. How do you ________________ your surname?
  9. We ________________ up on opposing sides.
  10. Hold the papers together with a ________________.
  11. This looks like a gunshot ________________.
  12. We came to a ________________ in the road and had no idea which direction to go.
  13. There's a computer ________________ on the table.
  14. The potato ________________ was salty and crunchy.
  15. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  16. The water is too ________________.
  17. He asked the witch to reverse the ________________.
  18. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  19. How can I extract the audio from a video ________________?
  20. We usually eat with a knife, ________________ and spoon.
  21. Algeria has become a bargaining ________________ in a global game of poker.
  22. The ________________ of the members were all out of tune.
  23. Use a garden ________________ to turn the soil.
  24. Because of the accident, he'll have a limp for the ________________ of his life.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. wound — an injury
  2. clip — to cut
  3. rest — a break
  4. cold — the Cold War
  5. spell — a short time
  6. cold — an illness
  7. lean — to rest against
  8. spell — letters
  9. wound — past of 'wind'
  10. clip — for paper
  11. wound — an injury
  12. fork — in a road
  13. chip — in a computer
  14. chip — to eat
  15. lean — thin
  16. cold — not warm
  17. spell — magic
  18. lean — to bend
  19. clip — a video
  20. fork — to eat with
  21. chip — for betting
  22. rest — what's left
  23. fork — a garden tool
  24. rest — what's left

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com